Thinking he was about to catch Laura, Morgen is startled by the doe that leaps from behind a tree and sends him tumbling into the cold brook that flows between the cottage and the wooded path to the shrine. When first the Furies challenged Morgen, they dismissed him as an unlikely hero, but now he's crossed the first threshold, it appears they've brought their enormous, snarling Mastiff with them, to blockhim from leaving the cold brook on the cottage side. We've seen the form before, but this time, we will look closer at the substance. When the Fury asks "What brings you here?" she may be asking what brought Morgen to Morningstone, or how did he come to be wet, cold and shivvering in the middle of the brook. "As if you didn't know," he replies and the answer he gives may be in reply to either question, which brings waspish responses from the Furies. "That is boldly spoken," they reply. "Like a challenge, spoken. Intended, perhaps, to provoke?" Morgen snaps back, "I've reason enough to be provoked, wouldn't you say?" Again, there are two simultaneous conversations going on. In one, Morgen may be blaming Laura's provocative behavior for his sorry state, but the other might be a hero's answer, stating that the sorry state of the world has brought him to Morningstone. As in the first challenge, the Furies resort to word play, and another important lesson for our would-be hero. "Abandon Reason," the Furies tell him, "Before you is a mystery. A wonder not attained by reason." The Furies and the Mastiff melt away into the darkness, but Morgen, unwilling to accept their pronouncement, shouts after them, "There must be some reason!" Again, the phrase may be interpreted at least two different ways. Morgen may be saying that there must be some reason for what is happening to him, personally, or that there must be some Reason left in the world by which Mankind might discover a way to avoid extinction. Travis Edward Pike, 22 August 2021, Otherworld Cottage |
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